Making good on the green that’s there

Chancellor Park will soon get an upgrade.  

After a public engagement and approvals process, View Royal council has announced that Chancellor Park is going to get an upgrade in 2024. The 0.3-acre park at the end of Chancellor and Quincy Street in View Royal is already a destination for people using the Galloping Goose Trail and for people visiting Victoria General Hospital. 

Improvements to the park, which will include making it universally accessible, will cost $300,000 that will come out of View Royal’s Parks Improvement and Casino reserves as well as applied Development Cost Charges.

The Community Planner What We Heard report was presented to council on June 10. The report indicated that 133 people in total participated in the public engagement process about the park enhancement, including 92 survey participants and 41 who attended an in-person open house. Most respondents to the survey lived within a five-minute walk of the park. One quarter said they already visited the park at least once a week. 

Overwhelmingly, people said they wanted to see additional furniture in the park as well as more natural gardens that would make it a more sustainable place. 

Some had concerns, because of the park’s proximity to the Galloping Goose Trail, that a fence should be built to avoid potential bicycle and pedestrian collisions. Others noted that adding amenities like bathrooms or water fountains might encourage or invite undesirable use of the park, including sheltering and encampment.

Chancellor, already part of the municipal park system, will add to a network of smaller green spaces that help residents continue to connect to wildlife and local ecosystems. The capital park project supports View Royal’s Official Community Plan around protecting and enhancing its existing natural features and the “regional role of the community as a link in transportation and environmental systems.” 

The move is part of a regional trend to make better existing spaces. The City of Langford announced in April that it was committing to renovating Porcher Park, a green space dedicated to the city originally in 1971 as a wildlife refuge. The city will expand the park by purchasing three adjacent properties. The additional space has meant other improvements such as a community garden and play equipment were approved so that more residents can enjoy it. 

In another example of more greening up through creative land use, Langford council will vote on Tuesday whether or not to approve a licensing agreement with Walmart that will allow the city to use a portion of its parking lot for an off-leash dog walking area. The terms of agreement mean that Langford will pay Walmart $2 over five years to temporarily lease the space on Langford Parkway to create more green space without having to actually buy more parkland.

Langford councillor Colby Harder told The Westshore the cost for fencing in the new dog park will be roughly $30K and the cost to maintain it, around $6K per year. “This is a small step towards getting more green space for all the density we’ve approved.”

These park enhancements are a growing trend in the Westshore and a reflection of regional municipalities’ commitment to sustainability and community. It’s a trend the United Nations says is beneficial for many reasons. 

Its reporting says “natural areas offer opportunities for physical activity, social interaction and stress reduction.” Creating inclusive green spaces also reduces “inequalities in health related to income” and improves municipal sustainability. 

The Porcher Park project will be the first community garden created in Langford. 

That project went through a similar public engagement process earlier in the year. The expected completion date for the View Royal park is late fall of 2024.